Picks and Pans Review: Taping Tip

BOTH MY FAVORITE AWARDS SHOWS take place this week. The MTV Video Music Awards (Thurs., Sept. 8, 8 p.m. ET) will have all these great artists performing: Smashing Pumpkins, Green Day, Snoop Doggy Dogg, the Beastie Boys, Stone Temple Pilots, the Rolling Stones and more (nominee Sheryl Crow is featured on p. 59). But this year's festivities are worth watching for the host alone. Ponder if you will a Roseanne who has been oddly absent from the headlines for more than two weeks, a Roseanne humbled by the rescheduling of her once untouchable series, a Roseanne in a live setting where she's actually encouraged to be outrageous. Forget pushing the envelope, this is a woman likely to burn down the whole stationery store. A more sedate carnival takes place on Sunday (Sept. 11, 8 p.m. ET) when ABC presents the Emmy Awards. TV has a lot to be proud of this year. Consider the nominees for Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Special: Joanne Woodward, Bette Midler, Helen Mirren, Jessica Tandy and Kirstie Alley. Impressive for a vast wasteland, huh?